Support



J. DOTTL.

SUPPORT.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.2, 1919 Patented Apr. 6, 1920.

NTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH DOTTL, OF MADISON, WISCONSIN.

SUPPORT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 6, 1920.

Application filed lAugust 2, 1919. Serial No. 314,967.

racks and shelf brackets, the particular.

shape of the ultimate supporting. element being subject to wide variation.

A primary object of the invention is to.

provide a support of this naturewhich may be readily applied to a wall, tiling or other background Iwithout the use of ,nails .or

screws, and which grips itself firmly on the material of the background by an internal clamping action. This is accomplished by means of two pins orjaws inclined inwardly in respect. to one another and receivablel in holes formed in said material soas to form an internal clamp .when .drawn toward one another. In therpreferred construction, one of the pins or j aws. isinteg'ral with the base or body of the article of hardware, and the other is movable in respect to said body but housed therein, thus permitting a design of pleasing lines; in a modification, the same general effect is secured by making both pins or jaws separate from the base but housed therein.

Again the invention consists in certain details and relationships of the base and associated parts, as will be more fully pointed out later.

In the drawings, Figures 1 and 2 are, respectively, a side view and a vertical section showing the invention embodied in a clothes hanger. Fig. 3 is a section online 3-3 of Fig. 2. Figs. 4 and 5 are side views showing the invention applied to a shelf bracket and to a towel rack, parts being broken away in Fig. 5. Fig. 6 is a sectional view corresponding to Fig. 2 and showing a modification.

l indicates a background such as a wall of brick, cement, tile or Wood, or a block or structural member, which is drilled or otherwise shaped at 2-3 to form two holes the adjacent surfaces of which converge 1nwardly toward one another.

The ultimate supporting member may be in the shape of a clothes hook, Figs. 1 and 2, a shelf bracket, Fig. 4, or a towel rack, F ig. 5, or of such other specific construction as may correspond to the particular use to which it is; intended vto be put. In any event, it includesI a base 4 having a surface 5 of considerable breadth adapted to engage the background, and it is provided, preferably at its upper end, with a pin 6 arranged to be received in the opening 2. Near the opposite end of the basein this instance the lower endthe latter is socketed or notched at 8 to receive the part cylindrical head` 9 of a secondpin 10 that preferably engages the base along parallel guiding sur-v faces 11 to prevent swinging. The base is also threaded at12 to receive ay screw 13 which passes through the head 9 and which, when tightened, draws the pin 10 toward the pin 6, it being 'observed that the body portion of the pin 10 is inclined to the surface 5 and has its inner end converging with the pin 6. The holes 2-3 are made larger than the pins by an amount sutlicient to permit the latter to be readily withdrawn when the screw 13 is loosened.

ln mounting the device, the pins are entered in the openings and the screw l2 is turned to draw them against the walls thereof, whereby they firmly and solidly grip the latter and at the same time tend to draw the surface 5 'snugly againstthe background The entire securing means, except possibly the head of the screw 13, is thus finally concealed, and the device as a whole presents a smooth and pleasing appearance. "It will be observed that the pins 6-10 form in effect the jaws of an internal clamp whereby the carrying element is tightly gripped to internal surfaces of the background.

The same general effects may be secured by making both pins or jaws separate from the base and by housing them therein, as is illustrated in Fig. 6 in which the base 4 of the clothes hook or other article is provided with a socket or channel 8', U- shaped in cross-section, for the heads 9 and 9 of the pins or jaws 6 and 10. A screw, 13', the head` of which is countersunk in the base, passes loosely through the head 9 of the jaw andl is threaded into the head 9 and affords means for drawing the latter toward the former for clamping purposes, as will be readily understood. Preferably the end of this screw -is received in and guided by an unthreaded extension 8" of the channel 8.

l. Means for supporting an article on a background having two holes whose inner ends are nearer together than their outer ends, said means including a rst pin Xed tol and forming part of the base of said article and received in one of said holes, a second pin movable relatively to said base and toward the rst pin and forming with said rst pin the jaws of an internal clamp the inner end portions of which are closer together than the outer end portions, and a threaded member housed in the base of said article for drawing the pins toward each other to cause them to clamp the background.

2. In combination with a background having a pair of inwardly converging holes therein, a device of the class described including a pair of converging elements entering said holes, said device also including a base conforming to the background, one of said elements having a head housed in the base, and a screw also housed in the base for drawing the last named element toward the other 'of said elements to tightly grip the walls oi' the holes and to draw said base toward the background.

3. In an article of the class described, a base portion having a pin projecting therefrom and having a surface adapted to conform to a background, said base portion also having a socket the walls oi? which form substantially parallel guideways, a second pin having a head housed in said socket andhaving surfaces co-acting with said guideways, and a screw passing through said head and arranged to cause relative movement of said pins toward one another to grip the background.

4. In an article of the class described, a base portion provided with two converging jaws adapted to enter holes in a background and adapted to secure the base portion thereto, said base portion forming a housing for the adjoining .portion of one of said jaws, and a screw also housed in the base portion for drawing the last mentioned jaw toward the other aw.

5. An article of house hardware including a base portion provided with two converging jaws projecting therefrom in substantially the same 'plane and adapted to engage a background to secure the base portion thereto, the base portion being channeled to receive and guide one of said pins toward the other, and a threaded member arranged in the plane of the pins and passing through the last mentioned pin to draw the latter along the guide.

6. An article of the class described including means for securing said article to a background, said means including a pair of jaws inclined in respect to one another and adapted to engage the background, one of the jaws having a substantially partcylindrical head, and the rest of the article having a similar guide for the head, and means for forcing the head along the guide to cause the jaws to approach one another to grip the background between them.

JOSEPH DOTTL. 

